In 1681 Abbot Federici joined the Congregation of the Philippines in the Oratory of St. Pietro in Valle. He brought his “libraria”, a valuable collection of books which he arranged at his own expense above the new oratory. Then, for about 40 years, he looked after the collection of the library. After his death, he left it to the fathers of the oratory and in his will he asked them to open it to the public and to enrich it thanks to an income deriving from his own land.
In 1861, when the Marche joined the Reign of Italy, religious orders were abolished for the second time. The municipality of Fano claimed the property of the library and it was looked after a keeper and two librarians: Luigi Masetti, the orientalist Michelangelo Lanci and the philologist Filippo Luigi Polidori. During the years the library came in possession of many books, such as the collections of other congregations, private grants, the donation of manuscripts, etc..
Renovation and strengthening works were carried out in the 20th century, and during the Second world war the library had to protect the collections. In 1950 it housed an important exhibition dedicated to the cartographer Vincenzo Coronelli.
In modern times the library is housed in the former house of the priests of the Oratory of St. Filippo Neri, behind the church of San Pietro in Valle, a splendid example of Baroque religious architecture. When in 1678 Abbot Federici asked to retire in Fano with the Philippines, a new place had to be found for his collection. This led to the creation of the wooden shelves of the Room of the Globes which is still possible to visit. It was made by Maestro Vincenzo from Bologna, where two globes made in Venice by Vincenzo Coronelli in 1688 were added.
The library boasts a reading room with more than 115 subscribed magazines and a storage of thousands of them , more than 250,000 books, a cinema, some special funds and manuscripts. Since 2012 a digital library has been available online.